HK residents like Taiwanese best

DISLIKES:：The territory’s impression of people from China hit a new low, with 33% of respondents expressing dislike, while many also said they didn’t like Filipinos

Staff Writer, with CNA

Mon, Dec 12, 2011 - Page 2

Residents of Hong Kong told a survey recently that they had more positive feelings toward Taiwanese than people from China and Macau.

The survey, published by the University of Hong Kong, showed that about 49 percent of people in Hong Kong expressed positive feelings toward Taiwanese, the highest figure since 2007, compared with 23 percent toward Chinese and 44 percent toward people from Macau.

The poll was conducted by the university’s Public Opinion Programme.

Fifty-three percent of -respon-dents said they felt most positive about their fellow Hong Kong residents, with 40 percent saying they felt positive toward their own government. The negative feelings of people in the former British colony toward Chinese hit a new high in five years at 33 percent, followed by Filipinos, who were disliked by 36 percent of respondents.

In addition, the poll showed that 33 percent of respondents held a positive attitude toward Chinese authorities and 28 percent have the opposite view.

Other countries listed in the poll included the UK, Singapore, the US and Canada, the report said. More than half of the people polled, or 56 percent, said they felt positive toward Singaporeans, compared with 55 percent toward Japanese, and 45 percent toward Canadians and British people.

The annual survey polled people in two stages. The first poll was conducted early last month and the second between late last month and early this month. The poll collected 1,027 and 1,055 valid samples, respectively, in the two-stage random telephone interviews. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.